Nintendo Switch consoles were easier to find last month, and this led to hybrid handheld/home console outselling its competition. The NPD Group’s monthly report is out, and the industry-tracking firm confirmed that the Nintendo console outsold the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One in July. The system is also contributing to a healthy gaming market in the United States.
“The Nintendo Switch was July’s best-selling hardware platform,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said. “[That was] driven by new inventory released in support of the launch of Splatoon 2.”
Splatoon 2 was the top-selling game in July. The excellent ink-shooter franchise, which started life on the doomed Wii U, is now officially a “system seller.” It doesn’t hurt that the Switch was still difficult to find from April through June, but the people who were able to finally get the system in July also picked up Splatoon 2 with it. These brisk Switch sales will likely continue in August and September. Nintendo has the delightful-looking Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle due out in late August and then it is launching a Splatoon 2 Switch bundle exclusively at Walmart in September.
If Nintendo Switch continues at its pace, it could help grow game-related revenues for the entire industry compared to 2016.
“Year to date, hardware spending has grown 20 percent versus 2016 to $1.6 billion,” Mat Piscatella said. “Performance of the Nintendo Switch continues to be the primary cause of the year-on-year gains.”
Throw the Super Nintendo Classic Edition on top of that, and Nintendo could come out the hero of this holiday.
Of course, none of this means folks have forgot about the PS4. That system doesn’t have supply problems, and Sony has built up an impressive lineup of games for it this year. That has led to it outselling all other hardware platforms year-to-date, according to Piscatella.
